Who makes a good folding shelf for toolcarts?

[Haveblue]

I have a Blue-point 4 drawer cart, and lately, Im thinking a folding side shelf would be a great addition to it but I dont want to spend a ton of cash on this. I dont intend to store tools on it, or load it heavily,but mostly use it for carburetor rebuilds, and small things like that. What do you recommend?

 

[crewchief888]

i've had several over the years, the sturdiest of the bunch was a MAC.
it's the only one i have left, i keep my cordless battery chargers on it at work.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I have a Blue-point 4 drawer cart, and lately, Im thinking a folding side shelf would be a great addition to it but I dont want to spend a ton of cash on this. I dont intend to store tools on it, or load it heavily,but mostly use it for carburetor rebuilds, and small things like that. What do you recommend?

I would recommend doing this stuff on your workbench....Any reason why it needs to be done on your tool cart? Why not get a cheap roll around bottom cabinet, if you can't use your workbench...

 

[cole_CT]

I heard there was a decent Sunex shelf on ToolTopia, if I'm not mistaken...

 

[zkling]

I have a side shelf that came off a 1950's typewriter stand. Found the stand at the goodwill for $2 and unbolted the side shelf. Super sturdy. Maybe look for something that is not advertised for a tool box? Just a suggestion.

I have seen the SO and Mac ones in person. Super sturdy, but for what they cost new The craftsman one is much cheaper, but IMHO much lighter than the SO or Mac ones.

You could make a real nice/sturdy one out of two folding hinges and a piece of 1/4" steel plate or even plywood.

 

[Haveblue]

I would recommend doing this stuff on your workbench....Any reason why it needs to be done on your tool cart? Why not get a cheap roll around bottom cabinet, if you can't use your workbench...

I agree with you, but the shop I work in is very dynamic..I work with two other techs, things are always moving around. Something is always torn down on the workbenches, waiting for parts. I do things at the workbenches as well, but a shelf on the side of my cart would save me a lot of time When im rebulding a carb, or similar project. I think of my cart as a "workstation" I want to have basically everything I need within reach.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I agree with you, but the shop I work in is very dynamic..I work with two other techs, things are always moving around. Something is always torn down on the workbenches, waiting for parts. I do things at the workbenches as well, but a shelf on the side of my cart would save me a lot of time When im rebulding a carb, or similar project. I think of my cart as a "workstation" I want to have basically everything I need within reach.

I gotcha...

 

[Haveblue]

making a shelf has crossed my mind, but it is the fold down part that concerns me. In this situation, I dont want to mess around with a prototype..I want to bolt it on and go.

 

[zkling]

making a shelf has crossed my mind, but it is the fold down part that concerns me. In this situation, I dont want to mess around with a prototype..I want to bolt it on and go.

No worries about the prototype. Just buy two folding shelf hinges, bolt on to tool box or cart then bolt on a top work surface (metal or wood). Will be ~10x stronger and much cheaper than any of the factory made ones. No more difficult than bolting on a factory one IMHO.

Use something like these, granted this are way overkill (750lbs weight cap ) and a bit expensive, but really nice. For $50 using those, I would be more worried about flipping your cart over than I would be about damaging the side shelf.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DT3UC2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

IIRC, Lowe's has them for ~$10 each.

 

[ex-x-fire]

I made mine w/ those hinges, they'll easily hold up a shelf full of tools, rotors, & other parts, check out the HF cart modify thread for pictures.

 

[John in OH]

I bought a folding Homak side shelf from Northern Tool for about $35 to attach to my 40" Craftsman Griplatch tool box. Drilled a couple of bolt holes in the Craftsman box and the shelf attached with no problem



http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200498079_200498079

They come in black, red or blue and are pretty decent for only $35. I had to use some RTV to glue the rubber mat to the steel shelf so it didn't fall off, but other than that it is pretty nice. It won't hold a lot of weight, but is great for laying tools or parts on to keep them handy while working.

Sorry I don't have a pic of it mounted on my box.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Sunex all the way.
Red:
http://www.tooltopia.com/sunex-tools-8004.aspx
Black:
http://www.tooltopia.com/sunex-tools-8004bk.aspx